Twenty Four Simple Notes
by Vivere Sine Timore
Summary: Its the simple story. Boy meets girl and falls in love. But he keeps it secret and since that first day in kindergarten, he sends her 2 letters a year. 1 on Christmas and 1 on Valentines Day. None are signed. All simple. All written by a boy in love.
1. First Day of Kindergarten

_So, I like to think of this as sort of a spin-off from my story, Kindergarten Mal. Only this one goes past their younger years and follows them up through high school. I'd gotten reviews on Kindergarten Mal asking me to show you what I though would happen later on in life, and so this was created._

_So the way this is set up, there will be four chapters for each grade. A prologue at the beginning of the year, Christmas, Valentine's day and a epilogue at the end of the year._

* * *

She smiles at him and he finds he is too shy to smile back.

She giggles behind her hand to her friend,

fixes her dress, the lights reflecting off her shiny black Mary Janes.

The reflection captures the attention of another little boy.

The one in the corner, playing with blue Play-Doh,

alone.

He looked at the shiny black Mary Janes.

He looked at the girl who they belonged to.

And he smiled.

And he stopped playing with his play doh.

And joined the others on the carpet.

Sneaking his way to a spot next to her.

He sat behind her.

He looked at her braid,

the long twisting french braid that ran down her back.

He smiled looking at her.

Her floral purple dress,

her white frilled socks,

and her shiny black Mary Janes.

Although she couldnt see him,

and would probably never notice him,

he couldnt help but feel like he liked her.

But it was the first day of kindergarten.

He was thinking silly things.

He sighed.

And that was the day that although others were chasing each other screaming cooties.

He wanted to catch cooties.

Only if they were hers.


	2. Snowflake

_Alright, so so far I've gotten good reviews for this... Lets hope there'll be more!_

* * *

On the last day before winter break,

she found a badly cut snowflake on her desk.

She smiled and opened it up.

_hapy holidaes._

_p.s. yu ar reely prety_

She smiled.

She tucked it into her purple backpack,

between the snowflake she had made and her lunchbox.

She twirled her hair around her finger

and smiled at the boy behind her.

The one with the grey eyes and the blond hair.

The boy she thought had given her the snowflake.

He smiled back,

his eyes dancing.

She was glad it was him who had giver her a holiday card.

_~24~_

Mal was rolling some clay around on his desk.

He looked up at her,

smiled when he saw she liked his card.

But then he saw who she was silently thanking.

And it wasn't him.

He frowned and went back to pounding the clay.

She was never going to thank him.


	3. Pink

_For those of you who have asked, there may possibly be something that sort of resembles something that seems like Maltara... eventually. I hope that clears things up!_

* * *

She skips into school the morning of Valentine's Day.

Her mother had perfectly curled her hair,

her pink dress didn't have a single wrinkle on it.

She placed her "mailbox",

a shoebox decorated with pink tissue paper and fake flowers,

on her desk.

She fixed one of the flowers,

humming as she did it.

Then she dug through her bag of general store cards,

looking for the big one,

the one with his name on it.

And she skipped over to his mailbox, placed it on top,

and she smiled at Ethan.

~24~

Going around, placing everyone's cards in the right mailbox,

Mal slipped a small bag into the top part of her desk.

He made sure that no one was looking,

then put a card in her shoebox.

And he waited.

~24~

Natara pulled out her writing journal,

(Really it was just a bunch of construction paper tied together with string)

and smiled when she saw the bag tumble out.

Inside was a coloring book page,

colored outside the lines and ripped from the book;

Mickey Mouse was kissing Minnie.

Below the picture was a note.

_Be mine, Valentine?_

It was an adult's handwriting,

but she loved it anyway.

And she didn't even need it to be signed to know who gave it to her.

She could tell just by looking at the boy across from her.

She smiled at Ethan and tossed a lock of her perfectly curled hair

over her shoulder.

And he smiled back and waved.

And Mal watched everything

without saying a word.


	4. End of Kindergarten

_Yayyy! Two chapters in... I'm not too sure how many hours. But either way, here's the end of their kindergarten year!_

* * *

Mal looked up from his lego kingdom

as the loudspeaker crackled to life.

They were calling all kindergarteners to the gym.

He stood with all the others,

got in line next to his buddy.

Heather Dudley.

She was pretty enough, Mal thought.

She had long brown hair that reached her shoulders

and big green eyes

and eye lashes so long Mal wondered how they didn't get all tangled.

But Natara was prettier,

no question.

They walked down the halls together,

most chattering with excitement.

The other classes were excited too,

to find out which class they would be in next year.

But Mal felt his insides twist and squirm.

What if he wasn't with Natara next year?

What if that stupid Ethan kid was?

He held back a grimace.

The stupid boy with the stupid blond hair.

It wasn't Mal's fault he had dark hair.

It wasn't his fault that his sister and her friend got mad at him

and hacked up his hair.

It wasn't his fault he had to wear a hat all the time because of it.

It wasn't his fault he had blue eyes instead of grey.

It wasn't his fault he was invisible.

~24~

Natara crossed her fingers tight,

hoping with everything she had that she and Ethan would be together again.

She wanted to play with him

and goof off in class with him.

She heard Ethan's name called

and watched as he pranced over to the far wall to line up

with the rest of his new class mates.

One by one, she watched as the kids she'd spent a year with,

a _whole _year,

got assigned their new classrooms.

Some of them got to stay together, but none of her friends go put in the same class.

She heard her name called, then a teacher's name.

~24~

Mal grinned and waved.

She was in his class.

And Ethan wasn't.

Heather was there, too, which was nice.

The three of them could be the best of friends.

Kindergarten had been a long and tough year for Mal,

but he knew first grade was going to be different.


	5. First Day of First Grade

His new classroom smelled like old bologna and mothballs.

All his stuff was hand-me-downs from his sister.

His hair still looked goofy.

And on top of that, there was Shawn.

His desk was right next to Natara's,

and Mal's was all the way across the room.

The teacher had promised that they would switch eventually,

but Mal wanted to sit next to her _right now._

And then there was Kai.

Kai was sitting next to Mal,

and he immediately started talking about everything.

He was weird,

but Mal hadn't had a best friend before.

He supposed he could tolerate him.

For the time being, anyway.

~24~

Shawn was nice.

He was sweet and quiet

and he had glasses that made him look really cute.

He didn't say much, though.

She did most of the talking.

As with all puppy crushes,

Ethan was long forgotten.

But she suspected that she and Shawn,

they could be friends forever

and then get married

and have a bunch of kids and dogs and live in a mansion.

She brushed her new short hair out of her face

and smiled at him.

She knew this year would be great.


	6. Bracelet

It snowed two days before they went on Winter Break.

Everyone was rushing to the windows,

pushing at each other to try and see.

Kai was telling Mal how each snowflake was unique.

None had a perfect match.

Mal didn't believe him.

With so many snowflakes,

and how many times it snowed,

surely there must be two that looked alike.

Kai also said that snow was just frozen water,

and that you could eat it.

Mal planned on trying it during recess.

~24~

Natara could barely retain her excitement.

Snow!

She, along with everyone else, was looking forward to recess

when they could play with the snow behind the lunch aids' backs.

She fidgeted her way through the morning lessons,

and was the first one at the coat rack at lunch time.

She wolfed her lunch down

and waited impatiently for the teacher to bring them outside to recess.

~24~

Mal fingered the bracelet in his pocket,

making sure it was still there.

His grandma had given it to his sister.

Only she didn't like it.

So she gave it to Mal and said he could have it.

And he knew just the person to give it to.

So when the teacher called them to come back in,

he made sure he was last in line

and the last to hang his coat up.

And he slipped the bracelet and the note into her coat pocket.

~24~

She hummed to herself as she waited with all the other kids to be picked up.

Shawn was there too,

but he wasn't talking much.

She stuck her hands in her pockets, then pulled her right hand out in confusion.

With it came a bracelet

with little glass beads and penguins.

She smiles widely at Shawn

and he smiles back.

She turns the piece of paper with it over,

looking for his note.

_Not who you think._

She tilts her head in confusion,

but then laughs.

Shawn must be playing a joke on her.

He must've slipped it into her pocket at recess.

She tosses her hair over her shoulder

and hugs Shawn.

He hugs her back,

then runs to his mom's car.

She grins to herself.

Shawn is so silly sometimes.


	7. Tuxedo Strawberries

_Hello from my college dorm! Haha I'm so sorry for not updating this story in FOREVER. I've been at college for a few days now, and somehow I've already injured myself. Apparently blow up boot camp obstacle courses are not my friends. Anyways I'm having fun here besides the sprained ankle. I promise to try to update my stories at least once a week, but I don't know how much time I'll have when I have homework consistently. Therefore I make no promises._

_You will all be pleased to know, however, that I've written out the endings for both this story and _Play Dead_, and that they both are officially Maltara._

* * *

Natara lined up with the rest of the girls along the wall with the windows.

All the boys were lined up against the opposite wall.

She smiled at Shawn, waved to him.

He smiled back.

Their teacher had planned an extra special lunch for them today.

She hummed her favorite song her mommy sang to her,

smiling to herself.

She couldn't wait to have lunch with only Shawn.

She picked at a loose string on her shirt,

watching the hem come undone.

Mommy would be mad later, but she didn't care.

The teacher pulled a popsicle stick and called out a boy's name, Howard.

She watched as Howard shyly went up to Heather from kindergarten

and they were led to two desks pushed together.

Three more boys were called,

and then the teacher said Shawn's name.

She smiled and played with a piece of her hair.

She was so excited she could barely stand still

as Shawn slowly crossed the room.

He came to a stop, murmured a hello,

and the teacher led Shawn and that girl Juliet off to a table.

Natara scowled at their backs and crossed her arms.

Soon it was just her and another boy left.

She recognized him from her kindergarten class.

Mal, she thought his name was.

He was wearing a messy blue shirt and jeans,

and he had a shy but excited look on his face.

She sighed.

The teacher led them over to the last remaining table

He pulled out her chair for her

and asked her what she wanted to eat.

He would get it for her.

She looked over at the food table

and she wrinkled her nose.

Pasta was okay, but it wasn't her favorite.

"Hi," the boy said quietly.

"Hi, I'm Natara," she said back.

"I know."

A silence fell over them, and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"I'm Mal."

She barely knew this boy;

she had no idea what to talk to him about.

But as time passed she found out he was hilarious.

He had really good jokes,

and he was really sweet to her.

He even called her pretty on one point.

(She'd blushed at that.)

And she found she didn't want to stop talking to him.

~24~

He couldn't believe his luck.

He would be picked last,

but he didn't mind so much.

He got to have lunch with just Natara.

Natara!

She looked so pretty today.

He waited until she went to wash her hands

before slipping a note inside her little purse with the diamonds.

He let out a slow breath before taking a bite of his chocolate covered strawberries.

She came back and smiled at him.

That pretty smile that could light up the room.

"Can I have some?"

He pushed the plate near her.

"You can have as many as your heart desires."

She smiled again.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

~24~

Sitting on the seat of her mothers car she was looking for a crayon in her little purse.

When she found another note.

She gasped a bit and her mom looked at her.

"What is it Natara?"

She smiled.

"I got another note."

"What does it say this time sweetie?"

She opened the card with two little stick figures hugging.

FOREVER YOURS

NO MATTER WHAT

Natara read it to her mom.

"Whoever it is sounds like a sweet boy who has a puppy crush."

At least now Natara knew it wasnt Shawn.

But her mind couldnt crack that it was Mal.

The sweet boy from the lunch.

Who had openly treated her like royalty.

* * *

_Bonus points to the people who found the Psych reference without looking it up._


	8. End of First Grade

_Okay, wow. So obviously that whole update-once-a-week thing didn't exactly work out. I apologize profusely. I do plan on continuing this, though, and I have most of the chapters all planned out. Still working out a few things, but it hopefully shouldn't take too long._

* * *

Natara skipped down the hall,

the plastic bag banging against her knees as she went.

They were having a party in class today

to celebrate the end of school and the start of summer.

She'd volunteered to bring in plates and napkins

and stuff like that.

Much easier than baking something.

~24~

He takes slow, careful steps as he makes his way to his class

never taking his eyes off of the plastic container he holds.

His mommy had helped him make the special cupcakes,

the ones that had different colors and yellow icing.

Rainbow cupcakes,

his mommy called them.

He thought they looked awful pretty;

maybe almost as pretty as Natara.

When he finally got to his classroom he smiled at what he saw.

His teacher had decorated the windows and walls

with construction paper flowers and butterflies

and even a few lady bugs.

She smiled and took the cupcake container from him and set it on the table with everything else,

and then she called everyone over to the green rug.

~24~

She smiled at the colorful cupcake on the plate in front of her

the one with the bright yellow icing.

She thought it looked beautiful

and almost didn't want to eat it and destroy its beauty.

But eventually she gave in

and smiled even bigger when she was all the colors inside.

She was eating a rainbow,

and it was definitely the most delicious rainbow she'd ever tasted.

She smiled at Mal,

the boy she remembered from Valentines day.

He was nice, she remembered.

He smiled back and waved shyly.

Now she just wished she knew who was writing those notes.

Maybe she'd figure it out next year,

but three months was an awful long time to wait.


	9. First Day of Second Grade

Mal sighed

and propped his head up on his hand.

The teacher was going on and on about something;

he didn't care enough to listen.

Natara wasn't in his class this year.

How was he supposed to get her presents to her now?

He could already tell it was going to be a bad year.

~24~

Natara sighed

completely bored to death.

They were still doing addition of double digit numbers.

Didn't the teacher know that

that was totally, like, first grade?

She already knew all of this.

But apparently some of the other classes didn't get as far

as her had.

She missed Shawn a little;

he was in the room next door

but he might as well have been on a whole 'nother continent.

She saw Ethan, the boy from kindergarten

raise his hand.

"Is it true Gelatin is made of aminal bones?"

She groans

along with the rest of the class.

Ethan is so gross

and she wishes he would just disappear.

But mostly she wishes she was back in last year,

cause last year was a whole lot better than this one will be.

She could just tell.

* * *

_I present this chapter to you as a thanks for putting up with my disappearing for a year, all you lovely people. 3_


	10. Meowie Christmas

She sits alone in the corner of the gym,

nose buried in a book.

They have to have indoor recess today

cause it's all rainy and wet and gross.

But no one's invited her to play with them.

No one ever does.

She sighs and looks up, studying the crowded gym

filled with screaming second and fourth graders.

She can see Shawn all the way on the opposite side

with a lot of the boys from his class.

She sighs heavily.

He's forgotten her already.

She turns back to her book.

~24~

Mal tries not to make it obvious

that he's not going to the bathroom.

That's just an excuse to get out of the gym.

He quickly sneaks past the main office

and the music room

and arrives at Natara's classroom.

The doorknob turns easily

but he winces as the door squeaks open.

His tiptoes to her desk-

he knows which on it is cause he's peeked in once or twice

when he was going to the water fountains-

and sets the tiny snow globe on the wooden surface.

Next to it he places his note.

He couldn't think of anything creative this time,

but he'd just make it up to her on Valentine's day.

He almost gets caught on the way back to the gym,

but ducks into the boys room right as his teacher walks by

and breathes a sigh of relief.

~24~

She trudges back to her classroom with her class.

She doesn't want to be here.

She wants to be at home

with daddy who reads fun stories to her.

Stupid rain.

Stupid class.

Second grade sucks.

She fully intends on sulking until 3:00

when they get to line up and go to the buses.

But when she gets back to the classroom she sees something sitting on her desk

and she just knows it's from _him._

Mystery Boy.

She smiles at her present,

a snowglobe with a little cat wearing a green and red hat,

"Meowie Christmas"

printed on the base.

It's cheesy

and childish

and it's adorable.

She loves it.

She slips it into her backpack,

careful not to break it.

And for the first time that day,

she smiles.


	11. Heart-shaped Ring

Mal tries to look as nonchalant as possible

as he makes his way to her classroom as fast as he dares.

He imagines himself as an explorer

or maybe a hunter.

Only his prey is to get Natara's gift to her.

Whatever.

It's still an adventure.

~24~

She's bored.

She doesn't want to be here.

She's tried telling her mom that,

that there's nothing for her to do at school.

But her mom just laughed and kissed her head

and drove her to school anyway.

She's not learning anything

and no one seems to like her.

She doesn't really have friends.

But all the other girls wanted to do was play house

or have tea parties.

It wasn't her fault that they had a stupid sense of fun.

And the boys weren't any better;

they just want to do gross things

like eat bugs and fart.

She wishes she went to a different school.

Or at least had a friend.

~24~

He eases the door open gently

(really, these teachers should probably stop leaving the doors unlocked)

and scurries across the room.

When he reaches her desk

he checks over his should quickly

and then pulls the lip balm ring and note out of his pocket.

It'll probably be too big to fit on her finger yet

cause she's really little.

Littler than Jamie and she was really small.

But he figured she could just carry it around

until she got bigger.

He almost made it out unnoticed.

"Excuse me, who are you?"

Her teacher was coming in just as he was about to leave.

"I, uh..."

He can't think of an explanation

so he tells the truth.

"I was just leaving a present for my friend. For Valentine's day."

The teacher smiles a bit.

"That's very sweet, but you know you're not allowed to be in here, right?"

He nods.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to give it to her as soon as possible."

Her teacher lets him off with just a warning.

He practically runs down the hall and outside

eager to rejoin his friends.

~24~

She cranky and tired

and she's decided that she hates recess because it's stupid.

Still, recess is better than being stuck inside.

Even if it is Valentine's day.

She only likes class today cause everyone has to give everyone a Valentine

and usually they tape candy to them.

She trudges back to her classroom with the rest of her classmates

hating every step.

She wordlessly goes back to her seat and takes out her math book

and the teacher says that she will be right back.

So she waits patiently.

And then from across the room she hears,

"Natara has a boyfriend!"

Instantly her cheeks and ears feel like they're on fire

and she knows her face is bright red.

Ethan is holding up a heart-shaped ring

and has a note in his other hand.

The other kids laugh loudly

and the sound echoes in her ears.

She stands up and strides over to the crowd that has now gathered

and holds out her hand.

"That's mine."

Mystery Boy must not have realized they changed seats a week ago.

Ethan grins even bigger.

"Finders keepers losers weepers."

"Who's your _boyfriend_?"

She's barely keeping from crying now.

"That's mine."

Ethan holds it up and scrutinizes it.

"Whatcha gonna give me for it?"

She wishes her teacher would come back _right now._

"Give it to me!"

She wishes Ethan wasn't such a stupid, pig headed jerk.

She grabs for the note in his hand,

manages to catch the corner

and tugs.

It's hers and she'll be damned if she gives in and lets Ethan have it.

"What do you even need a ring for?"

She tugs harder.

"Maybe I wanna give it to someone!"

There's a horrible ripping noise

and when she looks down

she realizes that her note has torn in half.

She stares at it in horror.

Her vision goes red.

And she shoves Ethan to the ground.

And hits him.

And pulls his hair.

And then she's aware of her teacher yelling

and pulling her away from the jerk-pig-rude-stupid crybaby.

And while the teacher calls the principal

she snatches her ring and both halves of the note from the ground.

She's escorted to the principal's office

and is told to sit on the ugly mustard-yellow couch

until the principal comes to get her.

She know's she's in a lot of trouble

but she doesn't care.

She uncrumples the halves of the note

and smiles a bit.

_Your just write for me_

_M.F._

"Natara Mansingh?"

She hops off of the couch

and braces herself.


	12. End of Second Grade

_Are you guys, like, mad at me or something? Not too many people have reviewed, but I know that there's been a fair amount of people who have at least seen this..._

* * *

Natara glances over at the clock above the door.

2:37.

It's definitely been more than three minutes since she checked last,

she decides.

There's no way that was only three minutes.

She just wants this year to be over

and be away from the poop face Ethan.

She can't believe she had a crush on him.

She sighs and put her chin in her hands

impatient for school to end.

They weren't even doing anything.

Not that she would have joined in anything;

no one really wanted to be her friend,

especially after she attacked Ethan.

Her parents were really mad at her when the found out,

and they lectured her for a whole twenty minutes.

They said she was lucky that his parents weren't pressing charges.

She just wanted to know what pressing charges meant.

She glances at the clock again.

2:41.

~24~

As much as he wishes Natara had been in his class this year,

he almost didn't want it to be summer yet.

He'd met a really cool friend named Jeremy;

he'd been the only other one who'd thought Natara wasn't "psycho".

Everyone had talked about it for weeks

until Jimmy Reynolds in the fifth grade beat the snot out of a kindergartener

and put him in the hospital.

No one had seen Jimmy since,

and Mal was kind of glad cause everyone knew he was a real jerk

only the adults hadn't believed them until he beat the kindergartener up.

He kind of felt partially responsible for what happened to Natara, though.

After all, he'd put her ring on the wrong desk.

He should have checked to make sure it was her desk,

but he didn't.

And she'd gotten suspended for two days

cause Ethan was a butt face with a poo 'stache.

He hoped next year went better for her,

and that she was in his class again.

The principal's voice comes on the loud speakers with the afternoon announcements,

and everyone runs over to their cubbies to get their backpacks.

And as soon as the bell rings,

he and Jeremy race each other out to the lawn.

His mommy had told them to wait but the big oak tree

until she got there to pick them up and take them out for ice cream.

But on his way there,

he sees Natara standing by herself by the bushes

and she looked awfully sad.

He reaches into his pocket and pulled out the fruit snacks his daddy had packed in his lunch.

He'd been saving them for later,

but he runs over to Natara instead

and holds them out to her.

"Don't look so sad. I hope you have a good summer!"

~24~

She watches the boy run over to where his friend was waiting for him

by the oak tree in front of the playground.

Mal, she remembers.

He'd been in her class last year,

she thinks.

That was right, wasn't it?

She glances down at the package of fruit snacks he's given her.

The package is kind of wrinkled and bent,

and they're kind of warm,

but she smiles anyway.

She tears the plastic open with her teeth and pops one in her mouth

and when she looks up again

Mal and his friend are gone and a car is pulling away from the tree.

She waves at the car,

hoping he could see her.

She hopes he has a good summer too.


	13. First Day of Third Grade

She tucks her new short hair behind her left ear,

smiling at the boy across from her.

Her legs swing back and forth under her seat,

her toes just barely brushing the ground.

They'd finally given them the kind of desks the big kids had

now that they were on the second floor with the fourth and fifth graders.

They were the big kids too now.

It was kind of exciting.

Everyone seems to have forgotten about her attacking Ethan

last Valentine's Day.

She was just boring old Natara again,

the nobody.

The boy across from her fusses with his glasses and smiles shyly at her,

showing off his missing tooth.

She giggles behind her hand.

~24~

Natara looks awfully pretty with her new haircut.

It only comes down to around her chin

but he likes it anyway.

He fiddles with his new glasses;

they feel weird and heavy on his face.

No one else in his class had glasses yet,

why did he need them?

His mommy said that they'd all get glasses later on

but he didn't understand why he couldn't get them later too.

He smiles a little at Natara when he notices her watching him

and flushes when she laughs quietly.

Even Natara was laughing at his glasses.

He makes up his mind to "forget" them tomorrow.


End file.
